Russian Swimming Federation

The Russian Swimming Federation (RSF) public organization was created in 1991.

The RSF President is Vladimir Salnikov, a four-time Olympic champion, 20-time holder of world records, and Merited Master of Sports of the USSR.

Since 2015, Gazprom has been a General Partner of the Russian Swimming Federation. With sponsorship support from Gazprom, the RSF has been holding national championships and competitions, events of international competitions, and training activities for the sports reserve.

The RSF has the following goals and objectives: development and promotion of swimming, including open water swimming in Russian territory; arrangement and holding of sports events and training of Russia’s national sports teams; and enhancement of the role of physical culture and sports in health improvement and personal development in a comprehensive and harmonious way.

Among the key activities of the RSF is the implementation of the “I’ll Become a Champion!” target program, which aims to train the reserve of the Russian national swimming team with the purpose of proactively increasing the international competitiveness of Russian sports swimming and ultimately making Russia a leader of world swimming sports.

Between the 2016 Olympics and 2020, Russia’s national swimming teams earned 351 medals, including 154 gold ones, at world and European championships and tournaments, as well as at other international competitions (including open water swimming competitions), repeatedly affirming their expertise as they faced off the world’s strongest swimmers.

At the European Aquatics Championships in 2021, the Russian team won 9 gold, 5 silver and 9 bronze medals, breaking 17 world, European and Russian records.